Every August, as the anniversary of The Trade approaches, Martin Gelinas can count on phone calls from a couple of reporters in his hometown of Shawinigan, Que.

A fitting reminder, since it was a swarm of media that eventually convinced an 18-year-old Gelinas that what he suspected was a prank was a real deal — he had, truly, been included in the Aug. 9, 1988, blockbuster as the Edmonton Oilers swapped (or sold) superstar centre Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings.

Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the transaction that rocked the hockey world.

Gretzky was headed to Hollywood, along with Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley.

In return, the Oilers received Gelinas — the seventh-overall selection that same summer — and fellow forward Jimmy Carson, plus a hat-trick of future first-round picks and a whole lotta loot, US$15 million to be exact.

“It just so happened I was working a hockey school about 20 minutes from my hometown,” reminisced Gelinas, now preparing for his seventh season as an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames after a playing career that spanned two decades. “I was drafted that June by L.A. and I was excited to go there — and I always tell that part of the story — because I felt that I had a good chance to make that team. They were weaker, I was a first-round pick and I thought that I would have a good opportunity to stay there.

“And then August comes and I’m working that hockey school and I’m just sitting because it’s lunch-time and someone came to me and said, ‘You got traded for Wayne Gretzky.’ I kind of chuckled. I thought it was a joke. And then eventually I saw four, five, six reporters showing up. And when you’ve got four, five, six reporters, that’s basically all the reporters in Shawinigan and Trois-Rivieres and so on, so you figure if you’ve got them all there, they have to know something that you don’t know.

“I thought they were playing a prank, so it took a while to realize and get a feel for, ‘Ok, this is really happening.’ But to really understand the magnitude of that trade, I didn’t really get it until a month later. People in Edmonton, they were disappointed and upset, and I get it.”

Truth is, Gelinas wasn’t initially thrilled either.

He wanted to play in the National Hockey League, ASAP.

The Oilers had sipped from the Stanley Cup in four of the previous five seasons.

Even without Gretzky, their forward lines were stacked.

“It’s flattering now,” said Gelinas, a speedy left-winger who totalled 309 goals and 660 points in 1,273 regular-season appearances at hockey’s highest level. “But back then, I was just one piece that moved from one side to the other. I was not a deal-breaker.

“For me, I was being selfish a little bit and upset that I went from a team where I thought I could play right away to going to Edmonton, where they were still a dynasty. You’ve still got (Mark) Messier, (Glenn) Anderson, (Jari) Kurri, (Esa) Tikkanen, (Craig) Simpson, (Craig) MacTavish … The list goes on and on of great players, so for me to make that team was a lot tougher.

“But I got there, and I was welcomed in the room. Glen Sather was the coach that year and he kept me until Christmas and I learned a lot and watched a lot. It’s a blessing now. Things happen for a reason, and I’m sure lucky that I went there and had a chance to learn from a lot of great players.”

Gretzky was back in the news this week, and not just because of the anniversary of The Trade.

The Great One was named a global ambassador for the Beijing-based Kunlun Red Star of the KHL, another major effort to grow the game of hockey in China.

The Flames, too, will play a significant part — they’re headed to Shenzhen and Beijing in September for a pair of pre-season contests against the Boston Bruins.

Gelinas and Calgary’s director of team operations, Sean O’Brien, travelled to China last month on a scouting trip of sorts, an effort to ensure that everything goes smoothly so that Mark Giordano and Johnny Gaudreau and the rest of the Flames can focus on their preparations for the 2018-19 campaign.

“To get a feel for their culture, the rink, the hotel … It was a good, good thing,” Gelinas said. “It was good for me to go and good for me and (O’Brien) to get a feel for how we felt when we got back, with the jet-lag.

“I think it’s going to be a good trip. We’re going to have our main team there. We’re excited, we have some new pieces and we’re all going to go there and gel and bond as a team. Obviously, there are going to be some challenges and the time difference and the flying and so on will be, but overall I think it’s going to be a great experience.”

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